Purpose: The authors argue that middle leaders are the key educators in school-based educational development. Schools often secure small-scale funding to engage in government or systemic initiatives, and these projects require a leadership "close to the classroom" if they are to realise sustainable educational gains. This leadership…

The link between literacy and health has been evidenced quite well, with studies indicating that people who struggle with literacy are also more likely to have poor physical health. However, what we know about the relationship between mental wellbeing and literacy is much more meagre. There is some evidence to suggest that higher levels of mental…

Incarceration costs are high; in Australia, for example, each prisoner costs an average of AUD 115,000 per year. Other countries are also feeling the fiscal pinch of high incarceration costs, and a number of jurisdictions are now closing some of their prisons. Most prison costs are non-discretionary (accommodation, meals, etc.). But some of the…

English orthographic learning, among Chinese-L1 children who were beginning to learn English as a foreign language, was documented when: (1) "only" visual memory was at their disposal, (2) visual memory and either "some" letter-sound knowledge or "some" semantic information was available, and (3) visual memory,…

The goal of the study was to examine the association between visual-attentional span and lexical decision in skilled adult readers. In the span tasks, an array of letters was presented briefly and recognition or production of a single cued letter (partial span) or production of all letters (whole span) was required. Independently of letter…

Although teacher educators are often regarded as models of lifelong learning for the teachers, their professional development has been the object of meagre research and discussion in the literature. This study raises awareness on issues pertaining to teacher educators' professional development in the Greek-Cypriot context. Data from…

In the literature of higher education cost function study, enough knowledge is created in the area of economy scale in the context of developed countries but the knowledge of input demand is lacking. On the other hand, empirical knowledge in the context of developing countries is very meagre. The paper fills up the knowledge gap, estimating a…

A central task of religious education is to show how the puzzlements to human intelligence and the experiences that are associated with spirituality, are compelling in relation to our development as human beings. There are always more theories than objects or events to be explained, and while the spiritual "data" that gives rise to our puzzlements…

Research on educational quality has been scarce in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, whereas the debates over educational quality date from 1966 in the USA with the Coleman Report. Fortunately TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) starts to fill this gap by providing data on students' achievement and for many…

A key factor motivating the organisation of tutorial classes for adult learners, based on collaboration between the Workers' Educational Association and universities in England and Wales, was a belief that they offered an educational vehicle for the promotion of liberal concepts of political citizenship. Attempts to disseminate this tutorial class…

The Australian Federal Government and Australian universities have embarked on a bid to raise the profile of learning and teaching (L&T) in universities. Current strategies include increased funding of competitive grants for L&T projects, a wider range of teaching awards and fellowships and a controversial new national competitive Learning…

Research into higher education is an expanding field, but it is notable that, while certain kinds of research get funded, undertaken and reported, others generally do not. Thus, articles that critique developing national policies are commonplace, as are reports evaluating the positive effects of innovations in course design or institutional…

Supports the contention that current attempts to improve the quality of university instruction represent meagre efforts due to insufficient commitment, and a lack of resources, both in finances and in personnel. (AM)

Background: In 1995, an unpublished study (S. Hewson & C. Waters) showed that the community links of residents in 11 local National Health Services (NHS) trust houses were meagre, despite the service's stated commitment to community presence and participation. The 1995 study was repeated for the same 11 houses in 2002 to examine whether any…

The future direction of computers in educational settings is the topic of speculation. It is noted that resources in education are so meagre that only practical ventures can be considered. Suggestions are made for stretching available resources and maximizing the benefits to be gained through the new technology. (MP)